Metro Briefing | New York: Albany: Minority Party Lawmakers Sue

A Democratic senator and a Republican assemblyman sued their own Legislature, its two leaders and Gov. George E. Pataki yesterday, alleging that the three men run the Capitol like a political machine to centralize power and money in their hands -- to the detriment of New Yorkers whose views are in the minority. The lawsuit was filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan by Senator Liz Krueger of Manhattan and Assemblyman Tom Kirwan of Newburgh. The legal action drew a sharp rebuke from Senator Joseph L. Bruno, the Republican majority leader, who, along with Sheldon Silver, the Assembly speaker, was named in the suit. "I guess if I were in the minority and I couldn't win the majority in fair elections, then I would try and play any game that I could play to disrupt or, you know, denigrate," Mr. Bruno said. A spokesman for Mr. Silver said the speaker had not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment. But a spokesman for the governor, Todd Alhart, said, "No one has done more to try and open up the state budget process and encourage input from members of the Legislature than Governor Pataki." Patrick D. Healy (NYT)